What is a book? That question is getting more consideration than ever as the popularity of touch tablets and e-book readers grow.

Back when I was in high school, reading was a simple matter of turning a page. Nowadays, technology has expanded the reading experience to such an extent that we find ourselves having to reconsider our notion of the book and reading all together.

In her article “Reading Redefined for a Transmedia Universe,” author Annette Lamb explores what it means to read a book and how mobile devices, multimedia publishing, and social technologies are transforming the reading experience inside and outside the classroom. She begins by offering simple definitions of reading and the book that take the digital reading environment into consideration. Reading, she says, is essentially the process of constructing meaning from symbols, and a book is simply a published collection of related pages or screens.

Because I am an editor with a background in newspapers, you might be surprised to hear that I welcome the digital reading environment. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer the tactile experience that only a “real” book or newspaper can provide, but the possibilities that interactive reading bring to the table are too engaging to ignore. Transmedia storytelling allows a reader to explore the content of a book in a nonlinear way. Multimodal elements might include links to original documents, interactive maps, social media sites, online activities and games, or mobile apps that add additional interaction or access to related subject material.

Youth have not hesitated to embrace the digital reading environment and have readily traded the paperback for smartphones, e-book readers, and iPads. To the digital native, reading a book involves more than text alone—and it always has. Books can and should include interactive graphics, sounds, symbols, and even video.

Some may see this additional functionality as mere eye or even ear candy, claiming that it does little more than divert attention away from the core concepts or ideas that a book contains. Indeed, multiple points of entry make it difficult to predict how an individual will choose to “read” a digital book, but that doesn’t mean the reader will miss the message. In fact, transmedia may actually support a deeper understanding of the subject matter because a multimedia environment can present the same information in ways that accommodate multiple learning styles.

Paul Wurster is the managing editor of Learning & Leading with Technology, ISTE's member magazine.